Suction cleaner



April 1942- c. G. TROXLER 2,279,213

SUCTION CLEANER Filed Oct. 19', 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR CharlesZraxler ATTORNEY April 1942 c. G. TROXLER 2,279,213

SUCTION CLEANER I Filed Oct. 19, 1939 3 Shets-Sheet 2 V 7 INVENTORCharles Zfoxler /w yi ATTORNEY Aprii 7?, T1942.

c. G. TROXLER SUCTION CLEANER Filed Oct'. 19, 1959 a Sheets-Sheet sDemo-rm" Charles G. Troxlel' ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 7,1942

suc'rroN CLEANER Charles G. Troxler, North canton, Ohio, assignmto TheHoover Company, North Canton, Ohio,

a corporation of Ohio Application October 19, 1939, Serial No. 300,147 3Claims. (01. -16) This invention relates to improvements in suctioncleaners and more particularly to a suction cleaner wherein the heightof the nozzle above the surface being cleaned is automatically adJ'usted by the downward pressure exerted through the handle.

sary, as in the present arrangement, to insert a special converterfitting, carried at one end of the I dusting tool hose, into a laterallyopening port The suction cleaner embodying the novel-fea- I tures of thepresent invention is one preferably designed for use with dusting toolsand hose and therefore one of the obiects ofthe invention is to providefor the raising of the nozzle by the application of a downward pressureon the han-.

dle not only for adjusting the height of the nozzle automatically to theparticular kind and quality of carpet. being cleaned but equally, toelevate the nozzle clear 'of the carpet surface during the period ofdusting tool operation and for reasons which presently Will be pointedout.

A very common expedient for adjusting the.

height of the nozzle with respect to the carpet surface is to providethe cleaner with adjustable front or rear wheels, that is to say, wheelswhich can be adjusted vertically with respect to the cleaner body,although the adjustability' of the wheels is usually confined either tothe front or rear wheels.

In the present disclosure the adjustable wheels are located at the rearend of the cleaner and are journalled upon a support bracket having apivoted mounting on the underside of the body. In fact, the presentadjustable rear wheel mounting resembles in many respects that disclosedin Letters Patent No. 2,177,974, dated'October, 31, 1939.

In this earlier disclosure, the rear wheels are also :Iournalled upon abracket having pivotal mounting on the underside of the cleaner body andcapable of being adjusted manually by an adjusting screw having a knobaccessible from the upper side of the cleaner body. Moreover, relativelystifi torsion springs prevent the rear wheel support bracket fromshifting about its axis and hence the cleaner body from tilting aboutthe front wheels and raising the nozzle, except when considerablepressure is applied at the rear end of the cleaner by the operator andfor the express purpose of converting the cleaner to dusting tooloperation. In other words, no adjustment in the nozzle height duringnormal carpet cleaning operation is contemplated except by manipulatingthe manual adjustment.

Moreover, to convert the cleaner from so-called on-the-floor cleaning toofi-the-floor cleaning by means of the dusting tools, it is necesat oneside of the cleaner body and by this operation connect the dusting1tool'hose directly with the source of suction. Likewise, it isdesirable that the nozzle be elevated from close proximity to the carpetsurface during dusting tool operation and for the reason that cleanersof the particular type disclosed herein, as well as previously, areequipped with rotary agitators having rigid carpet contacting beaterbars as well as brushes and; to insure the raising of the nozzle,provision has been made for preventing the insertion of the converterfitting into its port unless the nozzle has'been first raised.

This conversion preventing arrangement pref- I erably-takes the form ofa so-called barrier lever forming an integral part of the pivoted rearwheel support bracket and normally'having its end portion protrudinginto the converter port, so that the converter member cannot be insertedwithout'first removing the barrier. And this of course, can only beaccomplished by depressing the rear end of the cleaner body against thetension of the springs acting on the rear wheel support bracket.

But notwithstanding that there is a degree of similarity between thepivoted rear wheel mounting and converter barrier arrangement hereindisclosed and that of the earlier disclosure abovementioned, there arecertain features of the present disclosure which are essentially new andmeritorious.

In the first place, it will be observed that the handle is mounted nearthe 'rearend ofthe cleaner body and substantially above the rear wheelsrather than well forwardly thereof, so that the downward pressureexerted through the handle is more effective in tilting the cleaner. Andthe second and more important distinction is the character of thesprings acting on the rear wheel support bracket. In a word, the

' springs are now made light'enough to yield somewhat under the downwardpressure exerted through the handle under ordinary carpet cleaningoperations and substantially in direct proportion to the resistanceoffered to the forward movement of the cleaner by the particular carpetbeing cleaned. More definitely, there is a range within which thesprings will respond to the downward pressure exerted through thehandle,

thus allowing the cleaner body to-tiltjust enoughto adjust automaticallythe heig htof the nozzle to the character and surface texture of thecarpet being cleaned. Thus, if a carpet has a deep .thick pile, itfollows that a greater resistance would be present to retard the forwardprogress of the cleaner, and in order to overcome this resistance theoperator would have to push harder on the handle and the verticalcomponent of this pressure exerted downwardly at the rear end of thecleaner would tilt the cleaner body about its front wheels and thuselevate the nozzle to its proper height with respect to the carpet.

In this manner, therefore, automatic adjustment of the nozzle ismaintained during normal floor cleaning operation. But in addition, itis possible by exerting a still greater pressure through the handle in adownwardly direction to entirely overcome the spring tension, therebytilting the cleaner body far enough backwardly 4 to swing theobstructing barrier lever away from the converter port and permit theconverting operation to be completed.

with this somewhat extended introductory discussion of the object soughtto be attained, the novel features of the cleaner will now be describedin detail and in connection with the accompanying draw n in which:

Figure l is a general view in side elevation of a suction cleanerembodying the features of the present invention and showing its generalarrangement of parts: Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the cleanershowing the details of the rear wheel mounting and converterarrangement;

Figure 3 ha view of the cleaner body in side elevationsimilar to Figure1 but showing the same tilted into a position indicating the maxiv andengaging a pulley l3 forming an extension at chamber I is a circularinlet opening la which communicates with the'nozzle chamber formedwithin the nozzle portion 2 of the cleaner casing by means of an airpassage formed by shallow side walls 9 depending from the bottom of thefan chamber and a removable bottom plate iii fitting around the edges ofthe wall 8.

Extending lengthwise of the nozzle is a rotary agitator ll consisting ofa cylindrical shell having carpet-contacting beater bars Ila and brusheslib arranged lengthwise of their surface. The agitator is so mountedthat the beaterbars and brushes project a short distance beyond the beltI: extending through the air passage connecting the nozzle chamber withthe fan chamber the lower end of the hub of the fan 6.

v The casing including the aforesaid elements constitutes the body ofthe cleaner and as such is supported upon pairs of front wheels i4, i4and rear wheels, i5, IS. The front wheels are somewhat larger indiameter and have considerably wider tread surfaces than are generallyused because of their ability to support a greater load without sinkinginto the carpet. These wheels are iournalled upon bearings suitablyfixed to the casing l at opposite sides thereof. and just rearwardly ofthe'noszle. I i v The rear wheels II, II are located well toward therearend of the cleaner casing and journalled mum degree of nozzle elevationpossible under normal floor cleaning operation and brought about byvarying the degree of pressure exerted through the handle:

Figure 4 is a view of the cleaner in side elevation showing the bodyfully depressed for removing the barrier lever to permit the convertermember to be inserted:

Figure 5 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the cleaner showing theconverter member inserted;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the rear wheel bracket and compressionsprings: and

Figure '1 is a chart showing the load deflection curve of thecompression springs preferably used.

The suction cleaner herein disclosed follows generally the standarddesign for portable handle-maneuvered cleaners, consisting of a.- maincasing I including a nozzle portion 2 at its forward end from whence thesides of the casing extend rearwardly with a slight curvature andterminate in an outlet connection 8 at which a dirt bag 4 is removablyattached. Pivotaliy mounted at the rear end of the casing i and. just atopposite ends of a U-shaped bracket I! which in turn has pivotalmounting on the underside of the casing. As clearly shown in Figure 2,the rear wheel support bracket I. has a pair of arms i611, Ila extendingforwardly from each end of its main body portion with their extremitiespractlcally straddling the rear end of the air passage from the nozzle cher to the fan chamber. The bracket I8 is preferably stamped from sheetmetal and in such manner as to provide a hollow construction throughoutwith its concaved portions facing upwardly and toward the undersideforwardly of the outlet connections 8 is the ham I die 5 adapted toswing forwardly and rearwardly in the usual manner. The only notablefeature in regard to the handle is the fact that it is piv-- oted at apoint substantially in vertical alignment with the rear wheels as willbe presently seen when the rear wheels are identified.

The suction-creating system of the cleaner consists of the usualmotor-driven fan iwithin its chamber 1 located centrally of the casingI,

the driving motor for the fan being housed within a dome-like cover 0supported on top of the casing i.

Atthe center of the bottom wall of the fan of the cleaner casing. Thebracket It is pivotally supported at'the lower ends of. a pair of earsl1, l1 projecting downwardly from the underside of the cleaner casingand carrying hinge pins Ila passing through the arms Ila, Ila inwardlyfrom their ends. The rear wheels II, II are iournalled upon stub shaftsll, i8 projecting laterally from opposite sides of the bracket i6.

Between the underside of the cleaner casing i and the main body of therear wheel carrying bracket i8 is introduced a pair of relatively shortcoil springs ii, It with their endmost loops centered on bossesprojecting from the surfaces against which the ends of the springs seat,their lower end portions in particular, being well concealed within theU-shaped 0r channel-like body portion of the bracket. As clearly shownin Fi ure 6, these springs are spaced apart and well toward the outerends of the bracket II and except for their somewhat unusualconformation are not unlike short compression springs of the @011 yp Thesprings II, it are designed to respond to certain prescribed degrees ofdeflection under load, which will be referred to in greater .detaillater on, but for the present it will be noted that they appear to befairly, but not excessively, stiff springs of a comparatively few turnsbut with the diameter of the turnsgradualiy becoming less toward eachend. However, considered merely as compressionsprings, they act to holdthe rear downwardly opening nozzle mouth 2a and is wheel support bracketagainst movement from its normal position shown in Figure l, in whichthe forward ends of the bracket arms 16a, 16a

' contact the underside of the cleaner casing and maximum position ofadjustment had reached. But the present disclosure contemthe purposealready explained. But before considering the converter obstructingfunction of the consider and dispose of the first objective sought tobeobtained by the herein disclosed spring- V tensioned adjustable rearwheel arrangement.

Referring to Figure i, it is a simple matter to consider the springs-49, i9 serving merely to resist thedownward pressure exerted throughthe pivoted rear wheel bracket, .it' may be well to plates a furthertilting movement of the cleaner body beyond that required to attain theautomatic nozzle height adjustment just described and for the purpose ofcompleting the operation of converting the cleaner from "on-the-fioor to"oif-the-floor cleaning operation by inserting a converter member intoits port. In other words, instead of abruptly limiting the tiltingmovement of the cleaner within a prescribed range of auto- -matic nozzleheight adjustment, the present invention contemplates a still furthertflting movemerit into an extreme position in which it is pos sible tocomplete the converting-operation,'thi s dual function being likenedsomewhat to a foot lever which actuates a .clutch during a part ofhandle by the operator as the cleaner is maneuvered in a forwarddirection over a.carpet or other floor covering to be cleaned.- Now,with the cleaner standing on a bare surface and with no pressure appliedat the handle, it is apparent that the nozzle will assume a normalposition with its mouth spaced a predetermined distance above the floorsurface as determined by the position of the rear wheels i5, it. Inother words, the springs are capable of counter-balancing the so-calledstatic load and yet are free to yield to a downward force appliedthrough the handle, first, in response to the character of the carpetbeing cleaned, and second, to a downward presthroughout the remainder.

its downward movement and operates a brake But in order to bring outmanual functioning of the spring-pressed rear wheel bracket, it will benecessary to describe in some detail the converter arrangement:

Thus, referring to Figures 2 and i, there will be observed on theunderside of the cleaner cas-- fan chamber (as it appears in bottom planview),

sure applied through the handle when the cleaner is not operating andfor the purpose of changing over to dusting tool operation. I

For example, in operating the cleaner on a carpet having an unusuallydeep pile such as found in certain grades of velvet and Chenillecarpets, it follows that the supporting wheels sink into the carpet to agreater extent than on carpets having a shorter nap, and naturally thenozzle drops into closer proximity to if not actually into contact withthe carpet. Obviously, it requires greater eflort on the part of theoperator to move the cleaner over the thicker carpet, and this m anincreased force exerted through the handle and in a direction to tiltthe cleaner 'backwardly and about the front wheels as a fulcrum.Assuming then, that the springs is, it are gauged to yield to thispressure exerted movement of the cleaner in proportion to the cordingly.Thus, the thicker the carpet the greater the force required to maneuverthe cleaner, and the'vertical component of this force applied pressurethereby raising the nozzle accompressing the springs it, itautomatically adwinpon s it, It is to oiler a uniform yieldingresistance to the force exerted through the handle in maneuv the cleanerover varione types'of-fioor coverings and within a prescribed range ofadjustment, it would be quite in to order to provide a stop membertoiimit the movement of the wheel bracket when the a hollow conduit 29extending at right angles to the longitudinal center line of the cleanerbody and terminating at its side edge. For all intents and purposes,this conduit is merely a U-shaped member forming the bottom and sidewalls of a rectangular passageway extending from the outer edge of thecasing to the air passage leading to the fanchamber and normally closedat its inner fitting 22 carried at the end of the dusting tool hose intothe converter port or passageway formed by the conduit iii, the forwardend of the fitting enters the air passageway through the normally closedport and, extending crosswise of the inlet passage immediately in frontof the inlet opening to the fan casing, efiectively closes ed thepassageway and simultaneously connects the dusting tool hose, directlywith the fan chamber, thus transferring the suction from the main nozzleto the dusting tool carried at the outer end of the hose.

j Now, as 'hereinbefore'pointed out, it is i desirable that the cleanerbody be elevated'sufllciently to remove the agitator from possiblecontact with the carpet surface during oiT-the-fioor cleaning operationand therefore the completion of the converting operation is e contingentupon the preparatory tilting of the cleaner body and, as hereinbeforesuggested, this is accomplished by including a barrier member as a partof the rear wheel support bracket.

Now, referring again to Figure 2, it willbe noted that the arm-I; of thehinged wheel carrying bracket it on the right of'the inlet opening tothe fan eberterminates substantially at the rear edge'of the conduitforming the converter e. At theiextreme end of this aim lug 24 whichnormally'fits a notch 28a formed in the lower rearmost edgeofthe-conduit 20 and in this position partially obstructs the conduit asclearly shown in Figure 3, so that itwould be quite impossible to insertthe converter fitting I2 far enough into theconduit tocomplete theconvertport 01 mm: a is a vertically arranged ing operation withoutfirst removing the obstruction or barrier.

Now, this removal of the obstructing barrier is I simply a matter ofdepressing the rear end of the cleaner downwardly with sufficient forceto compress fully the springs I9, l9. (Figure 4.) However, it is to benoted first of all that while it would be possible for the operator topress downwardly directly 'upon the cleaner body by means of footpressure'or by stooping down and depressing it by hand as is necessaryin the ,7 previous disclosure referred to, this operation can now bereadily performed by raising the handle Having set forth a preferredembodiment of the invention, I claim:

1. In a suction cleaner of the type having .a body including a nozzle atits front end, front supporting wheels positioned rearwardly of saidnozzle pivotally supporting said body, rear supporting wheels positionedrearwardly of said front wheels andmounted for vertical movementrelative to said body, and a handle pivotally to its vertical or storageposition and then by pressing downwardly on the handle with one hand,depress the rear end of the cleaner while simultaneously inserting theconverter member into its port with the other hand. In other words, theoperator can perform the converting operation by stooping over insteadof kneeling on the floor as he or she might otherwise be tempted to do.

And now, with the dual function performed by the-pivotally mounted rearwheel caster bracket clearly in mind, the reason for utilizing springshaving a predetermined deflection characteristic will be appreciated andwhich, incidentally, accounts for their particular formation. In thefirst place, the springs should yield quite readily under the initialload applied through the handle and so continue throughout a rangecorresponding to the different types and grades of carpet to beencountered in the average household, but

beyond that point to yield only to a substantially increased andespecially applied downward force for the purpose of raising the nozzlehigh enough to displace the barrier and permit the converter fitting tobe inserted into its port. Thus, in designing the springs i9, i9,particular regard is given to their so-called deflection" characteristicwhich might be graphically represented by a curve in which load isplotted against deflection and showing a rather uniform deflectionthroughout the initial range of ordinary operating load conditions andthen approaching a more nearly vertical line, indicating an abruptdecreased deflection throughout the range of heavier loads, such aswould existwhen the opconnected to said body above said rear wheels;surface-contacting means on said nozzle adapted to contact and slideover a surface covering undergoing cleaning, resilient means to urgesaid rear wheels downwardly and to tilt said bodyabout the front wheelswith a force equal-to the normal component of propelling handle forcereceived thereby with said surface-contacting means sliding over asurface covering with a predetermined optimum frictional. resistance,

whereby upon said frictional resistance being increased above saidoptimum and the propelling handle force being thereby increased the saidspring receives more than said normal component of'force and the cleanerbody is tilted in opposition thereto about said front wheels to effect araising of said nozzle in order to reduce means urging the rear of saidbody upwardly and said nozzle downwardly into a suction-lifted surfacecovering thereunder with a predetermined force, said spring means beingarranged to oppose the vertical component of the propelling eratordepresses the rear end of the cleaner preparatory to inserting theconverter fitting. Obviously, each of the especially designed springsII, I! might readily be replaced with a pair of coacting springs, onefunctioning throughout the range of automatic nozzle adjustment and theother reinforcing the first-mentioned spring and coming into play assoon as-the range of automatic adjustment has been exceeded.

Thus, to summarize the novel features of the present disclosure, thefirst and primary accomplishment is that of introducing novel means forautomatically adjusting the height of the nozzle to the particular typeof carpet being cleaned by utilizing the force required to overcome theresistance to the movement of the cleaner over the particular grade offloor covering being cleaned and secondly, combining with the automaticnozzle adjustment the regulation of the converting operation throughthemedium of a barrier member.

' And in this connection, .it is obvious that the automatic adjustmentof the nozzle height can readily be utilized without making anyprovision for cleaning with dusting tools. Therefore, it is to beunderstood that the present invention is not to be limited to the dualarrangement.

force and having a compression characteristic as to be adapted to becompressed thereby to permit the rear of said body to be lowered and'the nozzle to be raised upon the frictional resistance of saidsurface-contacting means increasing'the handle-propelling force beyond apredetermined force.

3. In a suction cleaner of the type having a body including a nozzle atits front end, front supporting wheels positioned rearwardly of saidpredetermined force, characterized in that the vertical component of therequired propelling handle force is greater than the predetermined forceof said springs with said surface-contacting lips exerting more than 'apredetermined frictional resistance upon sliding over a surfacecove'ring undergoing cleaning whereby said springs are compressed andsaid nozzle is raised to reduce said frictional resistance.

CHARLES G.L'I'ROXLER.

